Henki corblikt



.nl a b H. coRBLlN Filed oct. 30, 1950 Nixwmmmwmm,

MACHINE `FOR HOMOGENIZING .LIQUIDS v 7.....: KI

'EHU

March 8, 1932.

Patented' Mar. 8, 1932 PATENTv 4OFFICE HENRI ('JOIRBLIN',` DF PARIS,FRANCE MACHINE ron. HOMOGENIZING LIQUms Application led ctober`30, 1930,Serial No. 492,346, andin France'October 30, 1929.

The machines that are now used for lixing or homogenizing liquids thatcontain in susp high pressure, between the edges of the/orifice tice.

and the pieces that serve to obturate said ori- Under thesecircumstances, it is pulverized, and in particular in the case of milk,the fat globules are divided into much finer particles, which do nottend to ascend through the liquid. Consequently, these fat globules nolonger form, after a certain time,

-a more or less thick layer of cream at the upper Vpart of milk.

These machines have some disadvantages. Owing to the high pressure'thatmust be produced, .and to their limited output, they are necessarilyexpensive. They require, in order the vessel that contains the to worksatisfactorily, a motive power that is not in proportion to the resultobtained. For lnstance, a fixing or homogenizing machine yielding 3000litres per hour requires about LLOhorse-power. The pieces that obturatethe orilice through which the liquid is forced, and which are made ofvery hardmetal, or ofagate, must always have their surfaces in perfect`condition, otherwise a certain quantity of large fat globules could passthrough the orifice without being divided into finer particles. Theadjustment of thespring that serves to apply these pieces against theconduit orifice is delicate, chiefly when a'relatively high output isrequired, which necessitates a very powerful spring. Y

My invention has for its object an apparatus permitting to obviate thesedisadvanf tages. The characteristic feature of this apparatus is thatthe liquid to be treated is forced under pressure, through holesprovided in a plate, into grooves provided in the surface of said plate,a flexible membrane or diaphragm being evenly applied, under the actionof a constant pressure, against said surface of the plate. Othergrooves, also provided in the same surface of the plate, are

connected withV outlet holes, so that the liquid,

by passing from the first set of grooves into the 'second one, issqueezed between the sur faces of the plate and of the diaphragm, sothat the globules in suspension are lattened, divided into smallerelements, and pulvero ize A preferred embodiment of my invention will behereinafter described with reference to the appended drawings, givenmerely by way of example, and in which: g5

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view, on the line l-l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan view from below of the plate provided with vgrooves or,in other words, an horizontal section n the line 2 2 70 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on thc line33 of Fig. 2.

A membrane a is tightly held at its periphery between two plates b andc, assembled together by means of bolts. In the central' part of thelower plate is bored a hole b1 which is connected with a tube d, leadingto the tap of a bottle (not shown in the figures) containing a liquefiedgas (for instance a com- 30 mercial carbonio acid bottle) or acompressed gas (air, nitrogen, or the like). The upper plate c isprovided, in its central part, with several holes c1', '01, incommunication wit-h a radial conduit 02 Said conduit, which is 85 boredthrough the thickness of the plate, is t connectedwith a tube e, throughwhich the liquid to be treated'is forced under pressure by means of apump (not shown). Around central holes c1, and at some distance there-9o from, a certain number of substantially radial grooves f, f areprovided in the undersurface of plate c (see Figs. l and 3). Saidgrooves do not run as far as the periphery of the plate. `Between saidgrooves, are provided, in the same surface of the plate, other radialgrooves g, g, beginning at a certain distance Y from the center of platec and running to a peripheral circular groove g1. Said groove g1 isconnected, thru holes g2, bored at various 10" points through thethickness of plate c, with the inside of box la Said box, acting as ancover, is connected through a tube h2, with other apparatus forsubsequent treatment of the liquid.

Owing to the pressure exerted by the gas coming from the bottle (notshown) upon membrane a, the latter is more or less forced into holes c1and grooves f, g, g1 of the opposite plate c. The liquid to be treated,forced under pressure into conduit 0 2 and holes c1, is Vdistributedamongst grooves f, between the under side of plate c and membrane a,which is tightly applied against plate c by the presl ratus, such ascoolers or the like.

sure of the gas coming from tube d, which pressure is always uni orm andconstant for all points.

The liquid arriving into rgrooves f, which radiate from the central partof plate c, is compelled to pass past an angle existing between themetal of the plate and the membrane a, which, as already stated,isforced into the grooves under the action of the pres-A sure. The liquidis thus submitted to a wiredrawing action between the membrane and theplate, and its globules are lengthened, flattened, and inally dividedinto liner globules. The liquid then travels between the membrane andthe'lat face of the plate, where this wiredrawing action is continueduntil\it- 'comes to the edge of an' adjacent groove g.`

There the liquid again travels past anv angle existing between themetallic edge of the plate and the membrane, which is tightly'applied/by the compressed gas into grooves g. When travelling past thisangle the globules of liquid are further divided and are pulverizedsince there is substantially no vpressurein these grooves g, which arein communication with the peripheral groove g1. From said groove, theliquid passes, through holes g2, into box h, from which the liquid isconveyed, through tube k1, into other appa- It will be found out that,through its being wiredrawn by passing first past the angle of the inletgroove f, then between the membrane and 4 'plate c, and-finally past theangle of the outlet groove g, the liquid is fully pulverized, and, inthe case of milk, is perfectly homogenized.

It will be understood that, without departing from the spirit of myinvention, many detail modifications may be made in the embodiment thathas been above described with reference to the appended drawings. Forinstance, use could be made of a plate presenting several concentricgrooves, some of which serve to the inflow ofliquid. and the others tothe outflow of liquid, said grooves being so disposed that an inletgroove is located between twofoutlet grooves. [n this case, the liquidis admitted into the inlet grooves and discharged from the outletgrooves through small holes opening into the vided in the plate for theinflow and the out- How of the liquid. A

Any other suitable arrangement may also be. used which allows theoutflow of liquid to take place `in the above stated conditions. Forinstancekthegrooves might be disposed in any other suitable way, or theycould be entirely dispensed ,-with, the liquid being brought intocontact with the membrane directly' through small holes, so that theWiredrawing of the liquid would'take place between the membrane and theedges of the holes.

vOne could also dispose, inevery hole `or every groove, hard metalmembers in the shape of needlesor small blades, adapted to fit into saidholes or grooves xwhen pushed by the membrane which is submitted'to thega pressure.

This pressureI exerted on the membrane may be exerted in any suitableway. VI" or instance, water may be forced under pressure into asuliiciently resisting bottle, having a capa-city of several litres, bymeans of the pump that serves to force the liquid to be treated into themachine. This water, forced into the, lower part of the bottlecompresses air in the upper part up to a sufficiently high pressure.`The bottle would be provided with a valve forV admitting water underpressure and with a small valve for compressed air connecting the upperpart of the bottle with the lower plate, which receives the gas that isto be applied to the membrane. Once this compressed air has beenobtained, the pump may be used to force the liquid that is to behomogenized into the machine, therequired pressure on the membrane beingsupplied by the compressed air. The volume of this compressed airis morethan sufficient for ensuring the elasticity vrequired for a satisfactoryoperation of the machine.

When the machine according to my invention is used for homogenizingliquids, the folpressure; practically no compressed gas is spent, exceptwhen the machine is cleaned, when some cubic centimeters ofit are lost.

3. The output of homogenized or fixed ,liquid may be as large as it isdesired, for it 1is easy to give the plates a suficient surface forproviding in the one that isr to receive the liquidthe desired quantityof grooves or holes' for the vcirculation of liquid. The diameter of theholes and the width of the grooves determine the thickness ofthe-membrane, which must not project too much into said holes orgrooves.

A plate provided with 20 holes or even 10 holes is the equivalent of ahomogenizing machine of the types actually used com rising a greatnumber of orifices obturated t rough Vneedle-valves or other membersmade of a hard material. But instead of having as many springs as thereare needle-valves, which springs would have to be very accurately scaledfor the same load, in order that all the Aorifices might be equally fedand might pulverize the liquid in the same way, there is, in the machineaccording to my invention, but a single membrane, which is appliedagainst all the holes or grooves with a suitable pressure, the same atall points, without any adjustment being required.

As it is possible to provide as many holes or grooves in the plate as itis desired, the length of the section of the sheet of liquid which leaksout through the holes or grooves may be any desired vmultiple of thelength of the section of the sheet of liquid that leaks out along thecircumference of an orifice obturated 'through a needle-valve or anyequivanot the case with the obturating members of Y the homogenizingmachines actually used.

lik)

As above mentioned, the particular machine that has been described withreference to the drawings and which is believed to be an etcient andpractical embodiment of my invention is given merely by way of example,as there might be changes made in the construction, disposition and formof the parts without departing from the spirit of my invention ascomprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

VVhatI claim is 1. A machine for fixing and homogenizing liquids thatcontain in suspension fat globules, and more particularly milk, whichcomprises a plate, an elastic diaphragm applied against said plate undera certain pressure, said plate being provided with a passage oradmitting the liquid to be treated to the face thereof that is incontact with the membrane, whereby the liquid can be forced to passbetween the plate and the membrane so that the fat globules are dividedinto smaller parts.

2. A machine for fixing or homogenizing Y liquids that contain insuspension fat globules and more particularly milk, which comprises aplate, an elastic membrane in contact with said plate, means forapplying a compressed gas on the side of said membrane that is not incontact with the plate, said plate being provided with a passage foradmitting the liquid to be treated to the face thereof that is incontact with the membrane, whereby the liquid can be forced to passbetween the plate and the membrane so that the fat globules are dividedinto smaller particles.

3. A machine for fixing or homogenizing liquids that contain insuspension fat globules, and more particularly milk, which comprises aplate, an inlet conduit in said plate for the liquid to be treated, anoutlet conduit in said plate for the homogenized liquid, said platebeing provided with holes leading from the first mentioned conduit toone face of the plate, and with holes leading from the same face of theplate to the second mentioned conduit, an elastic membrane in contactwith said plane, means for applying a compressed gas on the side of saidmembrane that is not in contact with the plate, whereby the liquid canbe forced to pass between the plate and the membrane so that the fatglobules are divided into smaller particles. y

4. A machine for fixing or homogenizing liquids that contain iasuspension fat globules, and more particularly milk, which comprises aplate provided with grooves on one face, an inlet conduit in said platefor the liquid to be treated, an outlet chamber for the homogenizedliquid, said plate being provided with holes leading from conduit tosome of the grooves and with holes leading from the other grooves tosaid chamber, an elastic membrane in contact with said face of theplate, another plate secured to the irst one for clamping the membranein position, a conduit through the last mentioned plate for connectingthe membrane with a reservoir of compressed gas, so as to apply themembrane tightly against the grooved face of the first plate, wherebythe liquid is wire- -drawn by passing between the plate and the membraneso that the fat globules are divided into smaller particles.

5. A machine for fixing or homogenizing liquids that contain insuspension fat globules, and more particularly milk, which comprises aplate provided with one group of radial grooves extending from thecenter of membrane in contact with the grooved face of the plate,another plate secured to the first one for clamping the membrane inposition,

a conduit through the last mentionedv plate for connecting themembranevwith a reservoir of compressed gas, so as to apply the membranetightly against the grooved face' 5 of the first plate, whereby theliquid is wiredrawn by passing between the plate and the membrane sothat the .fat globules are divided into smaller particles. Y

6. A machine as claimed in claim 5.,v comprising pieces made of hardmetal adapted to fit into the grooves ofthe plate.

In testimony whereof I have signed my v name to this specification.

' HENRI CORBLIN.

